Dimensional Descent

When Leonel walked out of his residence, a shadow of swirling dark energies appeared over his shoulder. Little Blackstar's body was almost a meter long by this point, but he still insisted on acting like he was still an infant. Even so, his antics brought a smile to Leonel's face as he patted the little guy on the head.

"How about it? Did it help you out?"

"Yip!"

Leonel smiled. Little Blackstar still couldn't and probably would never be able to speak human language, but that didn't mean that the little guy hadn't matured. Leonel could sense his thoughts becoming more complex and what he wanted to express was likewise much more complex.

The little guy was bragging again, but Leonel knew the truth. Little Blackstar hadn't made much progress at all. Though, he had already expected this.

Little Blackstar had ignored the corpse of the Shadow Tail and had instead focused on the Void Beast carcass against Leonel's recommendations. The little guy wanted to take a large leap immediately rather than taking one step at a time as was only natural.

It seemed that Aina wasn't the only one consumed by wanting to keep up with Leonel. In the past, if one were comparing talents alone, Little Blackstar had thought that he was even beyond Leonel. After all, those days where they had first met, Little Blackstar had actually almost killed Leonel several times.

Of course, the little one hadn't really understood what he was doing back then, but the truth was still the same. If one had to power scale Leonel and Blackstar back then, the latter would have been far superior.

Since then, the reverse had become true.

most amusing about it all was that the way their relationship was formed, Leonel was technically the beast to Blackstar's master. They hadn't formed it normally, and

toward Little Tolly with had become a strong drive to be better instead. It only made it worse that Tolliver had returned

take one step at a time when

Leonel smiled somewhat bitterly.

clearer than he could do the reverse. Back then he was so pathetic

same now? Blackstar's mind might as well have been

and I have a feeling that I

a feeling that I stalled your progress as a result. Absorbing too much too early, instead of supplementing you, just buried what potential you had. That's my fault as your companion, but don't let my mistake be what keeps you anchored for

so do as I say and not

two beautiful marbles, blinked. His whiskers drooped a

"Yip..."

Leonel smiled bitterly.

what he had learned in the Void Library, beasts progressed easier than humans, but time worked differently for them as well. Little Blackstar was an infant when Leonel met him, and even after experiencing a 20-plus year time dilation, he was still an infant. Little Blackstar might have to turn a century old before he could transition into

he had been too hands off with the little

path, he could continue to be. The problem was that he had pumped Blackstar full of a bloodline that wasn't his own,